Turkey on the cheap — in Marmaris

I spent 26 days in Turkey in May ’09 traveling solo and on the cheap. Excluding airfare, my total expenses were $951. I wrote about my visits to Bodrum (Oct. ’09, pg. 14) and Selçuk (Jan. ’10, pg. 30) and now cover Marmaris.

On day eight, I walked to the bus station in Selçuk and picked up a ticket to Marmaris (TL30, or about $19). The bus company was Pamukkale (phone 0 232 892 3961). I would have to go to the town of Ayden first and then switch to a bus that went straight to Marmaris; there was no bus from Selçuk straight to Marmaris that early in the season.

I walked back to my hotel for breakfast before catching the minibus at 11:20. It took an hour to get to Ayden, where I immediately transferred to a big, luxury bus, which dropped us off in Marmaris at 3:30. I transferred to another minibus for the 1½-mile ride into town.

I made my way to the Ozcan pension (Kemeralti Mah. 66. Sok. No: 11, Marmaris 48700, Turkey; phone 0 252 412 7761). The building was old, but it had WiFi and was close to the beach. I got a room for TL25; without breakfast, it would have been TL20.

I wandered around town, checked out the beach and got some dinner. The Ozcan had one American TV channel, TNT — old movies!

After breakfast and coffee the next morning, I read on the covered porch, then headed to the beach and swam, napped and tanned until 5:30 p.m. Nice!

On day 10 I picked up a bus ticket to Fethiye (TL16) for the next morning at 10 a.m., then I ended up walking out of town for three miles or so, passing many boatyards and yacht clubs. You can walk right into the boatyards and watch the repairs and building being done — quite fascinating.

Back at the Ozcan, I changed into swimming trunks and headed to the beach again to nap, swim and tan for a few hours. This is the life!

It was Mother’s Day, so I headed out to call Mom. Calling the USA was really, really cheap; a phone card with an hour and 40 minutes cost TL10 ($6.25).

The next morning I rented a Moped for the day for TL25 at T.R.I.O. Tours (Sariana Mevkii, 27. Sokak No: 3, 48700 Marmaris, Turkey; phone +90 252 413 12 12, fax 412 02 11, www.triotourism.com). I stopped at a gas station and filled it up for another TL17, then headed into the mountains around Marmaris.

I found AWESOME scenery, secluded beaches, sweeping vistas and, well, I can’t come up with the superlatives to describe the beauty. I also found a HUGE windsurfing beach/harbor near the town of Gökçe.

I drove down many dirt and stone roads and checked out every out-of-the-way place I could find. Jasmine (I’m pretty sure that’s what it was) was blooming, and now and again the air was filled with the wonderful scent. There were tons of spring wildflowers, and the forests were a million shades of green. Truly a spectacular place!

After seven hours and 120 kilometers of riding, I finally made it back into town. My skinny butt was sore. What a fantastic day!

DOUGLAS PRAKSTI

Turtle Creek, PA